


Second Chances

by SolarSystem



Category: Tangled: The Series (Cartoon)
Genre: All aboard the redemption train!, Bonding, Gen, This will never be canon, Varian (Disney) Redemption, slight angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-11
Updated: 2018-11-18
Packaged: 2019-05-20 20:08:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14901147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SolarSystem/pseuds/SolarSystem
Summary: Who would've thought Eugene Fitzherbert, of all people, would be the one who pulls him out of the dark?A redemption story for Varian.





	1. A Visitor

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a comment and kudos if you enjoyed!

The prison hall was relatively quiet - save for the sound of dripping water that rang every so often. It seemed that Varian could drift off to sleep if it weren't for the stone-hard bed and the impending threat of nightmares.

The tranquility was briefly interrupted by the call of a nearby guard, "You have a visitor!"

Varian peered up to bars, only to see none other than Flynn Rider, (or was Eugene Fitzherbert?) It was clear the boy wasn't going to strike up a conversation anytime soon, so the man cleared his throat.

"Hey, kid."

Varian crossed his arms, "Here to discuss my execution date, Rider?"

Eugene rolled his eyes, "We don't do that. Besides, I'm not here to talk about that."

"What, did the king send you here?"

"I came here of my own will."

The reply shocked Varian, rendering him speechless. He quickly recovered his stoic facade. Eugene continued,

"I want to know why you attacked us."

The boy scoffed, "Wasn't it obvious? I hate the royal family."

"I guess I wasn't specific enough. Why do you hate the royal family?"

Again, Varian was surprised. No one bothered to ask why the whole thing happened, no one cared. They just wanted him to pay.

His body position grew defensive, "... Why do you want to know?"

Eugene crouched down, sitting on the concrete floor. His eyes stared straight into Varian's, devoid of any lies. "Well, I believe in second chances."

Silence.

Then, laughter. Bitter laughter erupted from the figure in the cell, shaking his entire body.

"Second chances? Are you hearing yourself right now? People like me don't get second chances." Because they don't deserve it. A week (or was it two? He couldn't tell at this point) in jail gave ample amount of time to think. His father wouldn't have been encased in amber if it weren't for his failure. None of this would've have happened if he had just learn to stop screwing up.

Eugene gazed sorrowfully in the kid. The boy reminded him of himself when he was a child, spiteful and angry. The tough act was to protect the fragile pieces inside that could shatter with a single touch. Eugene knew that Varian believed he wasn't worthy of a second chance because of his mistakes, he was like that too. 

"You deserve a second chance."

The air grew heavy. Varian's mask crack, albeit a bit.

The former thief continued, "I wanted to get back at the world, it stole what was most important to me; so I kept stealing as payback. By the time I realized that no matter how much gold I stole, I was never getting my treasure back, I believed I was too late for a second chance. Then, I met Rapunzel.

She gave me second chance, and look at me now. If I got a second chance, you should too, Varian."

Vulnerability flashed across the boy's face. Eugene didn't seem like he was lying, so was he telling the truth? Did Varian really deserve.. No. The alchemist forced himself back to reality. There was no way he could just be forgiven like that, not with what he'd done. 

Varian laid down on his bed, his silence was his answer. After a few moments, shuffling and the sound of steps echoed until the quietness returned; leaving the boy alone with his thoughts.

 

Varian woke up on a chair in his lab. A few feet away stood the painful reminder of his mistake.

His body moved on its own, a thin glass vial with shimmering blue liquid in hand. He poured the substance on the amber rock and it began to corrode the crystal.

Suddenly, a crack formed on the amber, and Varian's heart began to race. 

This is it. He was freeing his father.

The crack began to expand deeper and deeper until it reached his father. A few moments later, Quirin stood before his son, the remnants of the amber near his feet.

Varian felt his body flush with relief, he did it. He stepped towards his only family and Quirin did the same.

Before the boy could close the gap between them with a hug, a hand flew towards his face and slapped it, the sound and pain akin to that of a whip.

Varian held his stinging cheek with a shaky hand, a burning sensation in his eyes.

"What have you done, Varian?"

The area around the two had changed. They were no longer in the house, but outside in the village. 

The village was empty, inhabited by nothing but the black rocks and silence.

"Why can't you do anything right?"

Varian couldn't answer, everything thing he wanted to say choked up in his throat and came out as a pathetic sob.

Suddenly, the ground trembled as shards of glowing black rocks shot out of the earth, each one coming closer to the two.  
His father cried out in pain as one of the black rocks pierced through his flesh and straight into his heart, the rock impaling him a few feet away from Varian; blood splattering into him.

Quirin gasped for a brief moment before the light in his eyes vanished

Varian failed him again

A blood-curling scream ripped out of Varian's throat as he shot up from his bed covered in cold sweat. His heavy panting soon dissolved into sobs that racked his body.

After a while, the boy calmed down as he leaned against the cool walls of the cell. 

Varian sighed, another nightmare. He was getting them nearly every night, by now he should've been used to it.

The guard's voice rang out, "You got a visitor!"

The boy composed himself as Eugene stepped into view. The man looked at him briefly, his cool demeanor didn't fool him.

"You okay? You look a bit out of it." Eugene asked with genuine concern.

Varian scoffed in return, trying his best to keep his voice leveled. "Why do you care?"

"Hey, I'm just being a nice." He replied lightly. 

Silence filled the prison and Varian reluctantly broke it due to his growing curiosity.

"Why're you here?"

Eugene cocked his head cheekily. "Why not?" His response earned him a frustrated growl.

"I'm asking why you're back when I told you I wasn't interested in your 'Second chance'."

The man pouted, "But you didn't even hear me out!" Varian narrowed his eyes at the overgrown child, debating whether he should curse him out or humor him. He chose the latter.

"Fine. You have five minutes."

Eugene blinked owlishly. "Oh, wow. I didn't think I'd actually get this far."

"Eugene." Varian hissed out through his teeth.

"I was joking! Okay, you did some pretty messed up things- duh." Varian scowled and resisted the urg to slam his own head against the wall because get to the point! 

As if sensing the boy's annoyance, Eugene continued hurriedly, "But I can understand why you did it. It doesn't make it any better though, and I know you know that.

And now you're here in this, and excuse my language, shitty cell," The man's way of phrasing earned him a raised eyebrow. "Because the king and captain can hold one hell of a grudge, and I don't blame them."

"Get. To. The. Point."

"Yes- the point. The point I'm making is that you should be doing community service instead of sitting in jail."

A pause. 

"Are...Are you serious?"  
"

"A hundred percent." 

"Why are you even proposing this? Do you even understand what I did? I tried to kill the queen and Cassandra. I tried to destroy the kingdom, and you're giving me a second chance?!"

Eugene dropped his joking manner, opting for a sincere tone. 

"You did bad things, Varian, I know that. But, so did I. I've hurt people, and really badly too. I'm not even sure if some of them made it out alive. 

What you need isn't a prison, you need help- whether you think deserve it or not. You need help if you want help your dad. That's why I want you to have another chance."

"...And the princess?"

Eugene smiled, "I talked to her. She agrees with me, and so does Cass."-

"I..." Varian trailed off, lost in his thoughts. 

Eugene took a step towards the exit. "Think about it, Varian. I'll stop by tomorrow with Blondie."

The man walked away from the cell leaving Varian alone confused and hopeful.


	2. New Start

Varian awoke from a dreamless sleep to the sound of footsteps. The sound grew louder as two figures emerged, Eugene and the princess.

"Princess..?", Varian breathed out. Rapunzel smiled in return. "Hey, Varian. How're you doing?"

"I'm fine." He kept his eyes down, refusing to look at Rapunzel in the eyes; afraid that he'll scare her off.

The princess shuffles and looked around the area. She huffed, "We should get some chairs here." She turned to the boy in the cell, "What do you think?" 

Varian stared at Rapunzel incredulously. "Uh, good idea?" The princess beamed at the response. "I know, right?" She faced Eugene, who looked as if he knew what she was going to say and walked away, (presumably to check some chairs.)

As the sound of footsteps grew fainter, Rapunzel turned to look at Varian with soft eyes that surprised him. 

"Eugene told you about our plan, right" Varian nodded. She stepped closer to the cell.   
"You know, we really want you out of here." Rapunzel paused, "I'm sorry."

The boy looked at her with confused eyes. "Why? You didn't do anything wrong."

"No, I did. When you came to me, you begged me for help. The least I could've have done was check on you after the storm. But I didn't"

Varian looked away, opting to stare at the cold prison wall. "I did that to him and you couldn't have done anything." 

"I could've have been there for you."

Varian said nothing for a while. Then, he chuckled. He got off of his cot and stepped towards Rapunzel.

"I guess we both are to blame, huh?"  
The princess smiled in agreement, 

"Let's start over. I'm Rapunzel, You?"

"I'm Varian, nice to meet you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter.


	3. You're not alone

Footsteps that didn't sound familiar alerted Varian. He leaned to get a better view and saw one of the prison guards. 

She looked friendly, Varian thought. But as he was led out of the cell with a tight grip on his tied hands, he thought to himself, looks were deceiving.

The walk to the surface was silent, not that Varian would complain. Soon he was greeted by three faces.

"Varian!" The princess spotted him first and began waving her hand in the air. The two beside her settled for a more subdued greeting. 

"Hey, Rapunzel." Rapunzel ran forward, giving her friend a crushing hug, which Varian could not reciprocate due to his bound hands. 

Rapunzel turned to the guard and gestured towards said hands, "Can you untie him?" 

The guard shook her head. "Sorry princess, King's orders." 

At the mention of the king, Varian perked up. "Speaking of him, how did you get him to agree to this?"

Rapunzel huffed and placed her hands on her hips, "I happen to make a convincing case." She nudged her head to Eugene and Cassandra, "And I had their help." 

Eugene interrupted loudly, "And as much as I would love to stand and chat, can we get going? Please?" Cassandra rolled her eyes and began walking, the others followed suit.

The town was quiet, though it wasn't surprising. It was early in the morning, and most of the townspeople were asleep in their homes.

During the walk, Varian asked Rapunzel, "About this 'community work..' what does that mean, exactly?" The former thief grinned widely. He cleared his throat dramatically.

"Glad you asked! What you would be doing is helping out with the rebuilding in sections of the kingdom after..." he faltered a moment before continuing, "And you're an amazing alchemist- you got potential kid. So that's why you'd be tasked with researching things to help us- like... Medicine!"

Varian nodded absent-mindedly as he took in Eugene's explanation. It was too good to be true. The deal was more than he deserved; there had to be a catch somewhere. Why else would this opportunity be given to someone like him?

The sound of people talking drew the alchemist out of his thoughts. His eyes flickered to the people who were starting to fill the streets. He felt their eyes on him, their burning stares full of disdain. The whispers grew louder and harsher, unknowingly Varian stopped in his tracks.

This was a mistake, how could he be so foolish to think this was a good idea? He needed to go back- go to back to the cell where he belongs and deserves because he was so stupid to think that the princess was the one at fault- he was and its his fault his dad was trapped and 

"Varian? What's wrong?"

The trio looked at the boy in concern, he looked terrified out of his mind. Varian's head lowered towards the ground, his shaking hands tugging at his har. 

Eugene watched the boy's eyes dart to the people walking down the streets who were paying no attention to them.

Making up his mind, Eugene cautiously approached Varian and bent down so he was looking up to him. "Varian, can you hear me?" After a few seconds, the boy nodded his head jerkily. "Alright, is it okay if I touch you?" Varian nodded again.

Eugene gingerly placed his hands over Varian's, slowly moving it away from his hair. "I need you to breathe with with me. Follow my lead okay?" Eugene began counting steadily with each breath. Soon Varian started to breath in tune with him and he gradually calmed down. 

When Varian was fully placid, he looked away bashfully. "S-sorry." He muttered. Eugene smiled warmly and placed his hand on the top of Varian's head, ruffling his hair. "Hey, it's not your fault- these things happen sometimes. Are you okay now?"

Varian felt his throat tighten at the amount of genuine concern and care he was receiving. How could someone this good exist in this world? "Y-yeah. I am." Eugene beamed and lifted himself off the ground. Wordlessly, he offered a hand to the boy, who accepted it.

The two reunited with the rest; Rapunzel joined hands with Eugene and Cassandra placed a reassuring hand on Varian's shoulder. And they continued walking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please tell me if there are any spelling errors! I hope you're enjoying the story!
> 
> Kudos and comments are always appreciated!


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